I’m long overdue for a nanny brag. My friends have heard me talk about our nanny, J, many times. I frequently am showing them videos (toddler yoga, anyone?) and pictures that J takes and I tell stories all the time of what the twins are doing with her.
J is awesome. I want to share with you the process I went through in hiring her, as many people have asked, wanting a similar experience.
This post contains affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase using these links, I will receive a percentage of the profits.
But first, here are a few examples that show just how great our nanny is.
1)She teaches the twins (age 2.5) weekly themed units, and provides me with month-long lesson plans, including the daily song, art project, book, movement activity, etc. that go with the theme. NO, I did not ask for any of this!
Take this week, for example. I asked the twins today (Tuesday) what they are learning about this week. “Our five senses!” they exclaimed. I then asked what sense they learned about today, and C said, “Hearing. We hear with our ears!” B said, “Our vocabulary word is SNIFF!” I can check out our art wall to see just what craft the twins did to match their “learning time”.
Crazy, right? The first year we had J, when the twins were one year old, she didn’t do this (though she taught them their letters, shapes, numbers, etc), but this year she has. They’ve learned about dinosaurs, outer space, “transportation vehicles”, “Our community”, etc.
2) She takes EVERYTHING in stride. And I mean everything. Every bump or bruise, every meltdown (yes, B has them with her too), every odd thing that comes her way is no big deal. I’m all – “Oh, the dog won’t eat this morning. Oh, I’m expecting a package and I don’t know what time it’ll come. Oh, ___ leaked overnight and the sheets need to be changed.” And she’s always – “Okay, no problem!”
3) She goes above and beyond. I’m sorry, but I’m sure breaking up giant chunks of poop with her bare hands (through gloves!) is not what she signed up for. B is still constipated somewhat; B poops like a gorilla. B’s poop clogs our toilet so often (aka – every single time) that our toilet is on its last legs and overflows if you try and flush/plunge it. So, the best way to tackle it is to slap on the rubber gloves we use for cloth diapers and break it up with our hands. The toilet overflowed on J once, I mentioned how we are using the gloves, and now – she’s joined our ranks.
4) She modifies her style to meet our style. I don’t know for sure what her “parenting” style was before she started with us. She doesn’t have any children. But she’s aware of how we parent, the strategies we use and don’t use, and she’s with us 100%. I know that when one of them misbehaves, she will handle it just as we do.
5) She’s a miracle worker. The kids try new foods with her that they won’t with us. They sit on the potty with her (just a sit, but that’s another story) and they won’t even go near it with us.
I could go on and on. Her only requests when we hired her 1.5 years ago was that the kids call her Miss J, and that my husband and I are okay with her showing them affection, such as hugs and “I love yous”, which of course we are.
People so often ask me, WHERE did you find her? They want to know how they can get their hands on a good nanny as well.
I found her on care.com.
This is not a sponsored post – I’m writing my opinions of care.com on my own and was not paid to do so. But yet – I really can’t say enough about this website.
Yes, I had my doubts at first, hiring a total stranger to watch my children. I can see how you might feel the same way. But the hiring process is so thorough – by the time you actually hire someone, you feel as if you know them personally!
When you sign up on care.com (for a premium membership to actually go through the hiring process), you fill out an application and it gets sent out to many people. I specified in my application that I wanted a non-smoker, and someone who didn’t mind taking care of pets. I also wanted a certain age group, previous nanny experience, etc.
After I sent out this application, I got over 30, yes 30, applicants. I was able to quickly rule out a few. I also used care.com’s background check system, which was very helpful. Then I contacted the remaining applicants through care.com’s messaging system. I imagine it’s kind of a like a dating website. I never gave away my address or last name, but the applicants and I went back and forth through this messaging service, as I asked more specific questions, like, “Tell me about the children you last cared for.” And, “Have you ever worked with twins?”
After “talking” with many applicants, I ruled more of them out, based on a number of factors. When it was all said and done, I was left with three women I really liked. They provided me with references and I called them.
The next step was to branch out of care.com’s messaging system and out into the real world. I gave my email address, we furthered our conversation. Finally, my husband and I decided to interview all three of them.
At this point, I was okay giving out my address (because they’d have to know it eventually anyway!). I had already called their references, used their background checks, asked them a million questions – it was time. We interviewed all three and they were great.
One was too far away, but I liked her. A second was also far away, and not QUITE the match I was looking for. And J? J showed up with a binder full of pictures and activities she had done with her previous family. Her casual professionalism shined when she met my babies.
It was a no-brainer. And the rest is history. Truthfully, this match was so good that we hope to keep J in our family for as many years as possible.
I’ve already recommended care.com to countless people I’ve talked to, but never in the blogging world. It’s a safe, trustworthy website and to be honest, good childcare workers KNOW this site, so they’re applying on it.
And it’s not just nannies – care.com has babysitters, petsitters, housekeepers, adult and senior care, tutors – you name it.
If you’re looking to hire someone and you’re not sure where to start, take a look at care.com. I’ve linked it here for your convenience. When you sign up for a premium membership through this blog post, you will save 20% using the special code 30SAVESM, and I will get a small percentage through the company. A win-win!
The fact of the matter is that J has been in our lives for a year and a half. We hope to keep her for many years to come, because she’s the perfect fit. And none of this would have happened without care.com. If you’re considering checking it out, I so appreciate you doing it through this post. Thank you!!
Twin Talk 
You’ve mentioned her before and she sounds amazing!